(SEAPA/IFEX) – The Thai military chief who led the coup against ousted caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has assured the local media that civil liberties and media freedom are well protected under the interim Constitution. Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) Chairman Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin was responding to some 20 representatives of six local media professional […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The Thai military chief who led the coup against ousted caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has assured the local media that civil liberties and media freedom are well protected under the interim Constitution.
Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) Chairman Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin was responding to some 20 representatives of six local media professional groups and newspapers who had sought a meeting with him on 29 September 2006. The media representatives wanted to air their concerns that free expression principles were not fully and explicitly guaranteed under the interim charter, compared to the 1997 charter nullified by the CDR.
The six groups are the Press Council of Thailand, the Confederation of Thai Journalists, the Thai Journalists Association, the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, the Association of Provincial Reporters and the Association of Cable TV Networks.
Sondhi said the CDR is fully aware that civil liberties and media freedom are important elements of democracy and that these issues had been well thought-out during the drafting process, with close consultation from academic experts.
He said the 39-article interim charter has already been forwarded to His Majesty the King for royal endorsement. The charter is expected to take effect next week.
Sondhi did not reveal the contents of Article 3, which touches on civil liberties, but acknowledged that the charter was concise due to its interim nature. He said more details and clarity could only be reflected in the new charter to be established by the upcoming council on the drafting of the Constitution, and suggested that a media representative be part of the council. He said the CDR is empowered to appoint 10 members to the 200-member drafting council and will reserve one slot for the media.
Besides raising concerns about media independence and free expression, critics say the interim charter has come up short in terms of public participation and checks-and-balances mechanisms.
